"Hm? Of course not."

Although surprised, Liam smiled and shook his head. He understood that as a girl, Ysabella had her own privacy. And he respected that.

Even Kiera wouldn’t let him check her phone.

"Well, since you’re going now. We can walk to the dorms together, right?"

Ysabella asked with a pleading smile. It seemed she was quite scared of walking alone at night.

Yesterday, she had headed out late at night, trying to find a quiet place to vent. Ever since she had been choked by Kaiser after kissing him, she hadn’t returned to him to vent.

Although it seemed like he still hadn’t exposed her, she didn’t want to meet with him in a closed space. He was too dangerous.

Unfortunately, her decision to go out alone had caused her to be attacked and injured.

’Such bad luck. Tch. I hate this school.’

Liam agreed to her proposal. He also wasn’t willing to expose her to that type of danger again.

The two left the school building, heading straight to the dormitory.

There were few students outside since everyone was wary of an attack, so the streets were fairly empty.

Liam tensed, feeling that something could go wrong.

’I really hope nothing goes wrong.’

Unfortunately, something went wrong. On the way back, he blinked, then found himself in a different location.

’Huh?’

Confusion spread in his mind, and he immediately scanned his surroundings, alert.

He was in an alley between the school football stadium and the pool. The place was dark, with the led lights smashed and broken.

’Teleportation? I was teleported. Damnit!’

Raising his hands, he suddenly remembered something.

’Ysabella!’

She wasn’t here with him. Although he was worried, he hoped she wasn’t teleported like him.

"Anyone out here?"

He asked cautiously, preparing to leave immediately.

As if responding to him, a low growl echoed in the darkness, and four purple eyes opened sharply, staring directly at him.

Liam’s heart sank, feeling an oppressive aura wash over him.

’An Awakened Beast?! How did it get into the academy?’

It was a completely unforseen experience.

Facing the four-eyed creature that he couldn’t see, he instinctively tried to activate his ability.

’Even if I can’t see it’s body or attacks, I can drain a part of its strength.’

Unfortunately, he felt nothing. That was when he remembered.

His gaze dropped to his wrist where the limiter was glowing yellow—active.

Liam sweatdropped. With the limiter active, he could only rely on his own physical strength as an Awakened.

No abilities, no affinity. Nothing could be utilized.

He didn’t have much time to think. The creature lunged at him with a roar.

Standing at the edge of a building near the dark alley, the chubby man who had repaired Ysabella’s phone stood.

His expression was flat, and he watched coldly as the contracted beast he had planted there attacked his last customer for the day.

There was no sympathy in his eyes, only determination.

’Our Lord’s will must come to pass.’

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him and turned.

There was a silver-haired student with green eyes, standing a few meters away from him.

The chubby man tilted his head. "Who are you?"

That long-haired kid lacked the demeanor of a student, so he didn’t treat him as one.

The boy slowly pulled two knives from his pockets.

"The boy you want to kill. He’s an important piece to my class. I cannot let him die. At least, not yet."

Humming, the chubby man remained composed, then said.

"You want to protect him? Unfortunately, you might be too late."

If he was right, the creature should have finished off the defenseless Liam.

Suddenly he frowned. There was no sound from below.

Turning, he glanced down. He also couldn’t see very clearly, but he heard the whimpers of the creature.

’No way. It was injured?’

He turned back to Ariel, alert.

"What did you guys do?"

The silver-haired boy raised the blades silently.

"Nothing. You did all the work and fell into a trap."

The next moment, the chubby man felt a tap on his shoulder.

He spun sharply, catching sight of the person who had tapped him. It was a famous, blindfolded student—Anthony Thornheart.

The blonde student reached for his blindfold, then pulled down the right part, revealing an eye.

The chubby man stared into that eye, and saw chaos.

The next thing he knew... no, he didn’t know. He was unconscious.

Anthony immediately pulled up his blindfold.

He glanced at the unconscious man, then at Ariel, and then down below in the alley.

Although he was blindfolded and it was pretty dark there, he could still see clearly.

Kaiser laid on the back of the creature, his arms and legs locked around it.

The creature was frozen in place, slowly being suffocated despite its furious resistance. It couldn’t even lash out with its claws.

The specific points Kaiser had targeted prevented it from being unable to even move a muscle in its limbs.

Only the head could turn and release pained whimpers.

’This first-year is really...’

Shaking his head, Anthony went ahead to pull the unconscious man with him. Without turning, he spoke to Ariel.

"I’ve informed the authorities. They’ll be here soon. Thank you for the brilliant plan."

Saying that, he lifted the chubby man and disappeared.

Before he left, Ariel glanced at his limiter—yellow. It was still activated.

He closed his eyes, returned the knives to his pocket, and walked to the edge.

Down below, Kaiser finally released the creature after ensuring it was dead. Then, he broke off a claw and used it to dig out the essence crystal.

Standing close by, Liam revealed a pale smile.

"Was that really necessary?"

Kaiser stood up, hands bloodied. "Although it’s quite insignificant, it is still my kill."

Liam couldn’t argue, so he looked up, spotting Ariel immediately.

"I didn’t know Ariel could actually hatch a plan like that."

Kaiser also turned to look at the silver-haired boy. He didn’t say a word.

They both locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them.